The Red Sox Want To Fix Carlos Marmol — And It Just Might Work

Less than a week ago, the Red Sox took a flier on former All-Star closer Carlos Marmol on a minor league contract. Now they believe they can fix him.

In his prime, Marmol was an absolute stud. In 2010 he saved 38 games for the Chicago Cubs and finished the year with a 2.01 FIP. Even more than that, he was a real world version of Nuke LaLoosh: He walked more than six batters per nine innings but also struck out almost 16 batters per nine innings.

That’s just filthy.

His career as a whole has been fantastic. In his nine MLB seasons (he didn’t make a big league appearance last year), Marmol has struck out more than nine batters per nine innings every year except his rookie season. In fact, that number is in double digits for every season except for two. Walks have always been an issue, but with stuff like that he was able to get away with it.

More from Boston Red Sox

• 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
• MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
• Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win
• Mookie Betts Has Humble Outlook on Returning to Fenway
• Alex Cora Reveals What He Said to Cause NSFW Response from Justin Verlander

Only in the past few seasons have home runs become a problem. He allowed just .65 home runs per nine innings in 2012, but in 2014 allowed more than two. (He was also very unlucky, with a career-worst .342 BABIP in ’14. He never had a BABIP above .300 before that season.)

But the Red Sox believe they can fix him. More specifically, Brian Bannister, the director of pitching analysis and development, believes he knows exactly what’s wrong:

"The Red Sox took a flier in large part because director of pitching analysis and development Brian Bannister spotted a flaw in Marmol’s delivery. Where once he whipped pitches across his body from a relatively low arm slot, he had become more over-the-top in recent seasons, with disastrous results.[…]“His arm slot has changed dramatically, as has the action to his sinker and his slider,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Prior to signing, there was a pretty detailed plan of what we want to do with readjusting the arm slot to get him back to where he was when he was the closer with the Cubs. He’s eager to do it.”"

If this is the problem and the Red Sox are able to fix him … how ridiculous will this Boston bullpen be in 2016? The Red Sox would have four pitchers with “closer-like” stuff. That’s not even counting Junichi Tazawa, who a bunch of teams wouldn’t mind having close the ninth inning for them (although we’ve seen how bad that’s gone before).

The Red Sox have tried reclamation projects before. Some have worked, some haven’t. But why not take a chance on Marmol? If it works, great. Your bullpen is that much better. If it doesn’t, you stash him away in Pawtucket or cut him. It’s worth a shot, even if he doesn’t make the team.

Next: Peter King Says NFL Should Return Patriots Draft Picks

One thing is for sure: Keep an eye on Marmol when spring games start. He might just be the secret weapon out of the bullpen in 2016.